News Nuggets 830

DAYLEE PICTURE:  Lightning over the Burj Al-Arab Hotel in Dubai.  From National Geographic. 

UP-FRONT END-OF-WAR NUGGET!!
Iraq Syndrome (Leonard Pitts) from the Chicago Tribune
A very well-thought-out assessment on the past and looking forward after this extraordinary misadventure.
"...there's little doubt we lost this war -- by every rational measure. ... Whatever "syndrome" does coalesce around this disastrous mistake must develop an intelligence that transcends the machinations that brought it on. For this to happen, we must stare deeply into the heart of the war's consequences."

Change Afghanistan Can Believe In (Charles Kenny) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"10 years later, life isn't just better -- it's much better."

Bashar Assad in the Balance (David Schenker) from the Los Angeles Times
"Syria's leader is fast losing allies, who seem to know the regime's end is near."

Don't Worry, America: China is Rising but Not Catching Up (Michael Beckley) from the Christian Science Monitor
"Most Americans fear that China will soon surpass the US in global power and economic clout. But this widespread view is wrong, based on sloppy analysis and outdated conceptions of national power. People who believe that China is overtaking the US make at least one of three mistakes."

China's Epic Hangover Begins (Ambrose Evans-Pritchard) from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"China's credit bubble has finally popped. The property market is swinging wildly from boom to bust, the cautionary exhibit of a BRIC's dream that is at last coming down to earth with a thud."

Inside Wukan: the Chinese Village that Fought Back from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
These people are exceptionally brave!  I don't see this ending well for any of them.
"Something extraordinary has happened in the Chinese village of Wukan."

A World in Crisis—and What Obama Should Do (Leslie Gelb) from the Daily Beast
"Around the globe, people are barely coping, politicians are ignoring them, and the media are trifling with them. Leslie H. Gelb on why Obama needs to fight fire with fire."

Census Data Shows 1 In 2 People Are Poor Or Low-Income from the Huffington Post
"Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans – nearly 1 in 2 – have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income. The latest census data depict a middle class that's shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government's safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families."

This Slump Won’t End Until 2031 (Matthew Lynn) from Marketwatch at the Wall Street Journal
And I thought I WAS PESSIMISTIC when I said the economy would return to normal by the early 2020s!
"It was the start of what economic historians call The Long Depression: a prolonged period of volatility, unemployment and slumps that lasted an epic twenty-three years, only finally coming to an end in 1896. I have been researching that episode for my new e-book ”The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031.” The parallels with our own time are fascinating."

A somewhat more optimistic view:
Amid the Gloom, U.S. Economy Quietly Improves (Zachary Karabell) from the Daily Beast
"Despite all the negative news, there are signs the U.S. economy is doing better than at any point since 2007, with moderate growth of about 2 percent, savings and consumer sentiment up, and unemployment still high but stagnant."

2.5M Young Adults Gain Coverage from the Associated Press
"The number of young adults lacking medical coverage has shrunk by 2.5 million since the new health care overhaul law took effect, according to a new analysis the Obama administration is to release Wednesday. That drop is 2½ times as large as the drop indicated by previous government and private estimates from earlier this year, which showed about 1 million Americans ages 19-25 had gained coverage."

The Year of the Protester (Kurt Anderson) from Time Magazine
""Massive and effective street protest" was a global oxymoron until — suddenly, shockingly — starting exactly a year ago, it became the defining trope of our times. And the protester once again became a maker of history."

Americans Would Benefit from a Muslim Version of the Huxtables (Clarence Page) from the Chicago Tribune
""In a country that supposedly embraces free speech," a posted statement said without a hint of irony, "those that oppose our position have no qualms about destroying our free speech." Right. No more qualms than the association feels about silencing "All-American Muslim." Nevertheless, if the association's protest actually helps to boost the show's ratings as people tune in to judge for themselves, I think it will have performed a valuable public service."

The GOP’s New, Post-Clinton-phobic World (Steve Kornacki) from Salon
"Newt Gingrich seems to look at the 1990s a lot differently now than he did at the time -- just like his party."

Newt Gingrich the Debater: He Will Babble his Way to the White House (Alex Pareene) from Salon
"Gingrich is quite good at making himself sound good to conservatives. It’s a skill Mitt Romney lacks; in his long career, Gingrich has only ever managed to sell himself to credulous Beltway journalists and the right-wing rabble. Everyone else has tended to find him more than slightly ridiculous. A Gingrich-Obama debate would certainly be more fun than a Romney-Obama debate, but I can’t imagine it’d be as easy for Gingrich as outwitting Sean Hannity and Greta Van Susteren."

Mitt Hits the Panic Button (Joan Walsh) from Salon
"He calls Gingrich "zany" and gets an endorsement from a non-witch. But he's swinging and missing."

DOG BOOK REVIEW NUGGET!!
Book Review: 'How the Dog Became the Dog' from the Chicago Tribune
"Mark Derr seeks to get at the existential mystery of that ancient link between people and dogs."